Soda Video “Reality Check”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest set up a booth in downtown Denver to make soda “from scratch” with the same amount of sugar as Coca-Cola. The result? No one wanted to drink it.
Coca-Cola’s latest advertising campaign links consumption of their super-sweet beverage with happiness, claiming that any harmful effects that might come from a Coke habit can easily be undone by “dog walking, bowling, laughing, or otherwise ‘balancing’ energy.”

The health consequences of a soda habit might be better known today than they were a decade ago, but if this video from The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is any indication, it seems the average person still doesn’t understand exactly how much sugar is in a 12-ounce can of pop.

Coca-Cola’s latest advertising campaign links consumption of their super-sweet beverage with happiness, claiming that any harmful effects that might come from a Coke habit can easily be undone by “dog walking, bowling, laughing, or otherwise ‘balancing’ energy.”

The folks at CSPI aren’t buying it. In an effort to encourage critical thinking about billion-dollar advertising tactics, they set up a “Happiness Stand” in downtown Denver to test their hunch: If people actually have to watch 10 packets of sugar get dumped into some fizzy water (along with a teaspoon or so of caramel coloring), they’re not going to be all that happy to drink the result.

Check out the reactions from passersby in the video above, and take a moment to appreciate just how powerful ingredient transparency can be can be when it comes to shifting the public conversation about food.
by Allison Miller in Delicious Living Blog